Monday, April 03, 2017

Penn Medicine Expert: Smoking May Be No More Hazardous than Vaping

An expert at Penn Medicine - the University of Pennsylvania's health care system - is telling the public that smoking cigarettes, like Marlboros, Camels, and Newports, may be no more hazardous to your health than vaping a tobacco-free e-liquid.

According to the expert: "We know that cigarettes are unsafe after 40 years of
exposure. We don’t have 40 years of exposure to e-cigarettes
to know what the danger is. We don’t know the safety profile, so we
can’t say that e-cigarettes are safer than traditional cigarettes."

The Rest of the Story

Well, if we can't say that e-cigarettes are safer than traditional cigarettes, then what the expert is saying is that we can't say that smoking is any more hazardous than vaping.

This is an absurd statement, completely in conflict with scientific evidence, and not even the tobacco companies would make such a claim.

In fact, the tobacco companies could have a field day with this. If I were Altria, I would take out huge newspaper advertisements in all the leading papers stating: "Medical Expert Says that Smoking May Be No More Hazardous than Tobacco-Free Vaping."

In other words, the statement of this expert is essentially a huge advertisement for tobacco cigarettes, the most deadly consumer product on the market in terms of its toll on the lives and health of Americans.

The evidence that smoking is more hazardous than vaping is overwhelming. Asthmatic smokers who switch from smoking to vaping experience an immediate and dramatic improvement in their lung function, both measured subjectively in terms of respiratory symptoms and objectively in terms of spirometry testing. Hypertensive smokers who switch to vaping also experience a lowering of their blood pressure. A substantial decline in blood levels of many toxins and carcinogens has been documented in vapers compared to smokers.

In short, there just isn't any doubt that smoking is more hazardous than vaping. To suggest otherwise is not only incorrect, but it is damaging to the public's health.

Even the tobacco companies are not willing to lie to that extreme in order to promote cigarette smoking. While they easily could capitalize on statements like that of this Penn Medicine expert, they are refraining from doing so.

It's not clear to me why a medical professional would promote cigarette smoking in this way, but he has good company. A large number of medical and health organizations and agencies have made exactly the same claim.

The FDA and the CDC need to come out immediately with unequivocal statements that vaping is safer than smoking. Their failure to do so is a huge part of what is contributing to the deception of the public about the relative risks of vaping and smoking.

About Me

Dr. Siegel is a Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health. He has 32 years of experience in the field of tobacco control. He previously spent two years working at the Office on Smoking and Health at CDC, where he conducted research on secondhand smoke and cigarette advertising. He has published nearly 70 papers related to tobacco. He testified in the landmark Engle lawsuit against the tobacco companies, which resulted in an unprecedented $145 billion verdict against the industry. He teaches social and behavioral sciences, mass communication and public health, and public health advocacy in the Masters of Public Health program.